[staffz93]

I heard the Meze Empyrean the other day being driven by a Moon 430ha and it was amazing. It reminds me of that feeling I get when I listen to Magnepans... the music wraps you up like a nice blanket. I WILL be getting a pair of these headphones but I do not have an amp to pair them with. While I can afford a used Moon 430ha I am searching for recommendations on other amps people have had paired with their Empyreans. The budget for the amp is up to $3500 but I would rather keep it under that. Looking forward to the recommendations. My other associated equipment is a Chord Qutest DAC.

 

[thecrow]

I heard the Meze Empyrean the other day being driven by a Moon 430ha and it was amazing. It reminds me of that feeling I get when I listen to Magnepans... the music wraps you up like a nice blanket. I WILL be getting a pair of these headphones but I do not have an amp to pair them with. While I can afford a used Moon 430ha I am searching for recommendations on other amps people have had paired with their Empyreans. The budget for the amp is up to $3500 but I would rather keep it under that. Looking forward to the recommendations. My other associated equipment is a Chord Qutest DAC.

Violectric v281 (or v280) is really well matched with qutest. (A friend of mine has the dac amp v281)

The headamp gsx mini looks promising but i have not heard it.

Either of those with your dac should be very compatible with a big range of headphones (future proof for later purchases)

edit: in hindsight the v281 might not be a really good match for you empys as it is a touch warm. Great truthful amp but there may be better empy options

 

[treebug]

I have the 430HA and agree, it is great for the Empyrean.

 

[VladYR]

Although it’s many times more than your suggested budget, the Chord Dave pairs exceptionally well with the Empyrean. The sound is truly addictive.

 

[ajlolo]

I am also confused about choosing an amp, I have already purchased this headphone

 

[ThanatosVI]

Do you only look for Solid State or also for tube amp recommendations?

 

[VladYR]

On a more affordable note, Sony TA-ZH1ES also works quite nicely with these headphones. I used it for 3 years (1 with Empyrean) before upgrading to the Dave. It’s a well regarded amp/dac that drives all manner of headphones to excessively high volumes if needed. It’s versatile and upgradable and can be found at reasonable prices if used.

 

[tesarpa]

Why not sell Qutest and upgrade to Hugo TT2? Better DAC, excellent headphone output. Or, the best amp available, Benchmark HPA4.

 

[The1Signature]

what was your final choice?

 

[kumar402]

Have heard good thing about Empy with Feliks Euforia.

 

[iFi audio]

I heard the Meze Empyrean the other day being driven by a Moon 430ha and it was amazing. It reminds me of that feeling I get when I listen to Magnepans... the music wraps you up like a nice blanket. I WILL be getting a pair of these headphones but I do not have an amp to pair them with. While I can afford a used Moon 430ha I am searching for recommendations on other amps people have had paired with their Empyreans. The budget for the amp is up to $3500 but I would rather keep it under that. Looking forward to the recommendations.

If I may, Empyreans aren't difficult to drive, so as far as power output goes you have multiple options. After hearing these cans many times (we have one at our office) and considering their sound characeteristic, I'd pair them with amp that leans more towards opennes and speed rather than warmth and roundness. Such a product would open them up nicely.

 

[DownToThis]

I recently went with the LTA MZ3. There's a few discussions of that pairing in the MZ3 thread. I took my empyrean to LTA recently to try them out and both the MZ2 and MZ3 worked outstanding. The first place I heard the empyrean was with the Sony listed above and that worked really well also. So you have a lot of great choices (although seeing as how this original post is 2 years old)